1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reconfigurable integrated circuit device, and more particularly, relates to a novel structure for a processor element provided within a reconfigurable integrated circuit device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A reconfigurable integrated circuit device comprises a plurality of processor elements and a network which connects between these processor elements. And, as a response to an external or an internal event, a sequencer supplies configuration data to the processor elements and the network, and the processor and the network are set up into any desired calculation state, according to the configuration data.
A traditional prior art type programmable microprocessor reads out commands stored in a memory in order and processes them sequentially. With this type of microprocessor, there is a fixed limit to the processing capability, since the commands which can be executed simultaneously by a single microprocessor are limited in number.
On the other hand, in a dynamically reconfigurable integrated circuit device such as those proposed in recent years, there are provided in advance a plurality of processor elements which comprise combinations of logical arithmetic units (ALUs) which are endowed with the functions of adders, multipliers, comparators and the like, delay circuits, counters and so on; and, furthermore, a network is provided which connects between these processor elements. This plurality of processor elements and network are reconfigured to any desired structure by configuration data from a state transition control unit which includes a sequencer, and performs predetermined calculations in this calculation state. When the data processing in one calculation state has been completed, another calculation state is configured with a different set of configuration data, and different data processing is performed in this state.
By being reconfigured dynamically into different calculation states in this manner, the data processing capability with respect to large volumes of data is enhanced, and thus it is possible to enhance the overall processing efficiency. Such a reconfigurable integrated circuit device is, for example, described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 2001-312481.